Dan's TV Awards 2012 (including a Top 10)

It's December, which means most entertainment blogs and websites will be indulging their readers with extensive Top 10 lists. I've done exactly that myself for most of the seven years Dan's Media Digest has been online. But this year I thought I'd offer something different: an awards ceremony! Of sorts. You can call it the "Danos", or something. It's basically a run-down of television shows that I thought pulled off something particularly good or bad this year. And if you still prefer a more traditional Top 10, I've included one at the very end.

MSN TV Review: THE INBETWEENERS [USA]

Today at MSN TV, I've reviewed the American remake of British comedy phenomenon THE INBETWEENERS, which started its first season on MTV last Monday. Will it recapture the magic of the original and echo its success Stateside? Well, probably not.

"Britain can take solace in the fact the best teenage drama and comedy of recent times has come from our shores: Skins and The Inbetweeners. MTV have now remade both for America, but the problem remains that these shows were very British reactions to a genre dominated by US pop-culture (all prom nights, liquor stores, and toga parties). In the case of The Inbetweeners, the subject matter and setup may be universal, but it was particularly refreshing from a UK perspective because the milieu and language was tailored to a home audience gorged on too much American Pie. The problem with MTV's Inbetweeners isn't that it's bad, just that it offers nothing unique for the culture that spawned what the UK show subverted." Continue reading...

Trailer: THE INBETWEENERS MOVIE

The first full-length trailer of The Inbetweeners Movie has been released, and it looks promising. I don't get the feeling this totally justifies being a feature-film, as it visually resembles an episode of the TV series that's managed to shoot overseas, but provided it's funny that shouldn't be an insurmountable problem. And there are admittedly some amusing moments in this trailer (like Neil's naff dance moves), which is what you need from any comedy trailer. Unlike similarly-themed movies, it helps that we're acquainted with these characters after three years watching their exploits, so the story should hopefully get down to business with minimal exposition and introductions.

This movie's audience are primarily going to be fans of the sitcom, although it may have wider appeal because the concept's so ripe for comedy (four sex-mad school friends go on a lad's holiday abroad). For British youngsters, it's very rare to have a teen movie that's been tailored specifically for them. We're so used to adjusting our perceptions to "American" for teen movies (pool parties and road trips aren't part of any Briton's experience growing up!), so The Inbetweeners already feels like it'll work simply because it's tapping into the British psyche. That's part of the reason the TV series worked so well, too.

The Inbetweeners Movie is released nationwide in the UK on 19 August.

'The Inbetweeners' gets extra special?

The recent third series of E4 teen-comedy The Inbetweeners was supposed to be the last TV adventure for the unruly students, before a movie and wrap-up TV special was announced. However, it's being reported that there will actually be two TV specials after the 2011 movie's release, thus extending the lifespan of E4's biggest hit. And if by "special" they're meaning hour-long installments, won't this effectively be four episodes of a regular six-episode fourth series, just stitched together?

Of course, if you're a fan of The Inbetweeners, news of another special is most likely music to your ears. But considering series 3's mixed response, I'm worried writers Damon Beesley and Iain Moris will find themselves flogging a dead horse before long. James Buckley (the youngest of the four leads) is already 23, while Joe Thomas (the oldest) is 27, so it'll be even tougher to convince people they're teenagers next year. Look at the photo above -- that's how they used to look when the show first started.

And should this comedy continue past the movie, which feels like the perfect celebratory end-point? If not, maybe writers will take the foursome into university, despite the plausability problem with dopey Neil? Or how about resetting The Inbetweeners and following a new gang of friends, a la Skins, while keeping teacher Mr Gilbert involved for continuity? Or is the success of The Inbetweeners down to those particular characters and actors?

Thoughts?

Update: Apparently, the writers have yet to agree to Channel 4's suggestion they write two specials, so we may still end up with one as originally planned.

'THE INBETWEENERS' 3.6 - "The Camping Trip"

Knowing there's a movie and wrap-up TV special to come, the "last ever episode" of E4's The Inbetweeners wasn't the emotional send-off we might otherwise have expected. It was just another episode, really, although there was a vague sense of things reaching a turning point because Simon (Joe Thomas) was told he'd be moving to Swansea, and he ended up briefly rethinking his association with Will (Simon Bird), Jay (James Buckley) and Neil (Blake Harrison) after they let his car slide into a lake, but nothing really stuck and we know there'll be more adventures for the four boys...

Simon's discovery that his parents are planning a move to Swansea resulted in a farewell trip with his friends, as they decided to go camping together. Arriving beside a woodland lake, they quickly become bored and resort to playing Monopoly, leading to a situation where Simon's car wound up submerged in the lake, and a meal of undercooked sausages caused projectile vomiting in their four-man tent.

There was less actual plot in this episode than the "Trip To Warwick" episode, and I know some people will be disappointed the show again relied on gross-outs to a large extent. I'm always disappointed when the show becomes too far-fetched and has its characters act in idiotic ways that doesn't feel believable -- such as the boys burning Will's equipment on purpose, or Jay talking Neil into letting Simon's car roll into the water. That latter moment was especially annoying because the writers did a really good job of getting Simon's car to pose a danger, with Jay leaving the handbrake off while driving the car closer to shine its headlights on their nighttime Monopoly game. Moments that are funny, plausible and logical are much funnier to me.

This episode also reminded me of how brash some of the acting can be on the show, particularly from Joe Thomas in the opening scenes with his parents, as the actor's often guilty of pitching his performance so broad that it transforms the scene into a Kevin & Perry sketch. It often takes me a few moments to acclimatize to The Inbetweeners, despite watching it every week, especially when Thomas decides to play scenes like a big freak-out. A scene in the school cafeteria, where he embarrassed himself by screaming "make love?!" to Carli (Emily Head) was also a step too far for me, while also reminding me how poorly Carli has been treated this series. Considering Simon/Carli was one of the show's enduring storylines, it was sad to see it dropped, and while Hannah Tointon was a better replacement over Emily Head, her character Tara was likewise ditched in episode 4. I think The Inbetweeners missed a trick in either keeping the Tara storyline going for longer, or for not involving Carli in the Simon/Tara romance.

Overall, "The Camping Trip" had its fair share of problems and wasn't a very remarkable ending for the regular TV series, but I'm kinder towards comedies provided they make me laugh fairly regularly, which this episode did. It was also funny to hear that laidback Neil lose his virginity first, albeit off-screen, although I hope that fact doesn't colour some of the gang's remaining adventures together. And I had to cheer Simon's rant at his friend's towards the end, standing knee-deep in water next to his sunken car ("I have wasted my life hanging out with you fucking morons!")

So, that’s it for now. The Inbetweeners will return on the big screen in an adventure about them going on a parent-less holiday abroad, which could be genius or heinous. The idea of a British sitcom relocating abroad for a movie version is a woeful cliché from the '70s, and the basic premise sounds a lot like the appalling Kevin & Perry Go Large. Hopefully writers Damon Beesley and Iain Morris have avoided the obvious pitfalls and we'll get an 18-rated slice of hormonal hilarity.

What did you think of this finale, and The Inbetweeners as a whole? Was this a weak third year? Is it an overrated sitcom in general? Or unbridled genius that knows its target audience extremely well?

WRITERS: Damon Beesley & Iain Morris
DIRECTOR: Ben Palmer
GUEST CAST: Emily Head, Greg Davies, Robin Weaver, Martin Trenaman, Dominic Applewhite, Deo Simcox, Lily Lovett & Rebecca Semark
TRANSMISSION: 18 October 2010 -- E4/HD, 10PM

'THE INBETWEENERS' 3.5 - "Home Alone"

It's a shame there's rarely a good plot reinforcing episodes of The Inbetweeners, as the show generally just takes an event and spins as many set-pieces from the situation as possible. This week gave us the prospect of Will (Simon Bird) being left home alone, while his mum (Belinda Stewart-Wilson) went on a trip to Bath to meet old college friend Fergus. With Will's house empty, Neil (Blake Harrison), Simon (Joe Thomas) and Jay (James Buckley) came over for a night of debauchery -- if by debauchery you mean planning to masturbating over Will's mum's knickers, eat toast with no plate to catch the crumbs, and vandalize flowers using golf clubs...

The first half of series 3's penultimate episode contained some of the best comedy The Inbetweeners has ever delivered, particularly the incident with Jay trying to run over a crafty squirrel. It was also amusing to see Jay get increasingly desperate to masturbate in peace without the family dog Benji putting him off his stroke, and Neil's enthusiasm when learning Will's mum has photos of herself uploaded to Facebook. And despite being the show's wet blanket, you can't help but sympathize with Will when he's trying to herd his three friends around, imploring them to behave like adults instead of disobedient kids who deface his Facebook page and change the password.

The second half wasn't as strong as the first, as the story's hectic pace fell away and old gags were continued pas the point of hilarity (more flower beheading) and it all got bit silly when the angry neighbour besieged Will's house to give the lads hell for destroying his daffodils. The fact Benji was put down because Jay lied about the dog pooping indoors was also too unbelievable to be darkly funny, and Neil's joke about Simon looking like he has Down's Syndrome because he's wearing a polo shirt with Chinos to play golf was a bad taste misfire.

Still, I can't deny The Inbetweeners is captivating whenever it just lets the four leads bounce off each other, even if there's a feeling that none of it every really amounts to much. It's essentially 30 minutes of ribald silliness, bad behaviour, moaning, pranks, swearing, vandalism, animal cruelty and schoolboy humour. Largely forgettable the next day, but a lowbrow joy as you watch it unfold through a mixture of cringing, slack-jawed disbelief, and fits of juvenile giggles.

Asides

• The taunts about the University Of Lincoln's expense touched a nerve for me, but in a good way. Replying to me on Twitter, co-writer Iain Morris confirmed that the comments throughout this episode weren't malicious, just an injoke for a friend who attended Lincoln University. It's not a "shithole", really.
• Apologies for the absence of a main photo above, but Channel 4's press website have apparently lost interest this week.

WRITERS: Damon Beesley & Iain Morris
DIRECTOR: Ben Palmer
GUEST CAST: Greg Davies, David Schaal, Victoria Willing, Belinda Stewart-Wilson & Mark Roper
TRANSMISSION: 11 October 2010 -- E4/HD, 10PM

'THE INBETWEENERS' 3.4 - "The Trip To Warwick"

It's often mentioned that The Inbetweeners could theoretically continue past sixth form and into university, and "The Trip To Warwick" was an episode where writers Damon Beesley and Iain Morris gave fans a glimpse of what a Uni-based version of this comedy might resemble. The answer: hilarious. So it's a shame the writers have announced this is definitely the final regular series, before a movie and TV special to cap it.

This week, Simon (Joe Thomas) is getting serious with new girlfriend Tara (Hannah Tointon), but it's becoming a pain having to curtail their relationship under the scrutiny of both their parents. Consequently, Tara plans a trip to Warwick University, to stay with a friend who's studying there and willing to give them some privacy so they can have sex. Inevitably, Simon's friends tag along as gooseberries: Will (Simon Bird) uses the trip to scout the university's facilities, Jay (James Buckley) is on hand to dispense his inimitable brand of sexual wisdom, and Neil (Blake Harrison) follows because he's the human equivalent of a brown-eyed Labrador.

For me, The Inbetweeners is at its best when there are three key components in play: the four leads are allowed to interact verbally to a large extent, the overall storyline revolves around girls/sex, and there's a steady stream of excruciating and crude visual gags. "The Trip To Warwick" delivered a potent supply of each: Neil farting in the cramped car on the way to the university, to the disgust of Tara and mortification of Simon; Jay's desperate sexual anecdote about a Dutch girl he shagged ("... she shit down my arm"); the nonsensical drinking game of some University kids; Will being pressured into eating a bonsai tree to feel accepted; Simon suffering from impotence after masturbating before getting into bed with Tara, then letting out a stream of abuse as "dirty talk" ("I'm gonna fuck your fucking fanny off, you twat!"); and Neil drinking a bottle of Orangeade then spitting out some cigarette butts floating around inside.

It was all exactly the sort of thing you'd never want to watch with your parents around, which is entirely the point. It's exaggerated and lowbrow, but it knows its audience and delivers what they want in a manner that's not so debased as to be insulting or tedious. The downside is that the characters still feel like sketch show creations, with the possible exception of Will and (occasionally) Simon, while the female characters are window dressing. Hannah Tointon's done wonders with a potentially frivolous role as "hot girlfriend", but even she can't overcome the thin material she's given here, or the fact Tara joins the long list of girls whose arc on the show is predictably leading nowhere. Would it have hurt the show so badly if Simon had popped his cherry? I guess they're saving the losing of virginity for the movie.

Overall, this was just shy of a perfect episode, when taken on its own terms as a raucous, rude, lewd, silly, close-to-the-bone, teenage sex comedy. If you're a fan, you'll have been in hysterics throughout. If you're not, you'll have been appalled at what the kids are watching these days. And that's just as it should be.

WRITERS: Damon Beesley & Iain Morris
DIRECTOR: Ben Palmer
GUEST CAST: Hannah Tointon, Robin Weaver, Martin Trenaman, Dominic Applewhite, Charlie Covell, Ambrosine Falck, Lewis Linford, Jack Brear & Danny Kirrane
TRANSMISSION: 4 October 2010 – E4/HD, 10PM

'THE INBETWEENERS' 3.3 - "Will's Dilemma"

I wish The Inbetweeners would decide if it's a semi-realistic comedy or a live-action comic strip, because I spent most of this third episode either smiling in satisfaction at well-observed adolescent behaviour, or struggling to swallow its broader moments. Do we really believe Tara (Hannah Tointon) would want to dress up new boyfriend Simon (Joe Thomas) to look like a complete idiot? Absolutely not. And the show still can't escape giving us caricatured female characters; here a giant schoolgirl called Kerry (Abbey Mordue) was the butt of many jokes, accompanying Will (Simon Bird) on a double date with Simon and Tara, which Will only put up with because Kerry's renowned for giving her boyfriends blowjobs.

It was an amusing episode, by and large: from Jay (James Buckley) crashing Neil's (Blake Harrison) 18th birthday present of a motorbike, seconds after claiming he's a skilled stuntman; to Simon having to face Tara's prudish parents and shocking them by swearing and revealing an offensive bumper sticker on his car. I just find think the show could be a lot better if they went for Peep Show-style realism, because the funniest moments here were whenever Simon's friends kept trilling "mimimimimimimi!" if he mentioned his girlfriend. Immature, silly, funny and accurate in its depiction of the kind of things teenage boys do to tease/annoy each other, it reminded me of when The Inbetweeners was more like that. Exaggerations of real life, not unrealistic sketch-show moments like Simon fainting at the cinema while watching a horror movie.

But this isn't a new complaint. The Inbetweeners often crosses the boundary, for me. Just when you're relishing the accuracy and nostalgic kick some of the situations and behaviour can elicit, along comes something ridiculous that stretches your disbelief to breaking point, or the quality of acting suddenly drops to school play levels.

Overall, I didn't dislike this episode, but it let itself down. Will in particular came across as a horrible person in his handling of Kerry, and that entire storyline didn't lead anywhere very interesting or cathartic. I was fine with how Will avoided learning a clichéd lesson that it's Kerry's personality that really counts, not her phsyical size, but we didn't get anything better.

WRITERS: Damon Beesley & Iain Morris
DIRECTOR: Ben Palmer
GUEST CAST: Hannah Tointon, Greg Davies & Abbey Mordue
TRANSMISSION: 27 September 2010 - E4/HD, 10PM

'THE INBETWEENERS' 3.2 - "The Gig & The Girlfriend"

I think we can all agree The Inbetweeners is at its best when dealing with coming-of-age events its audience recognize. Last week's fashion show was quite a funny situation (I liked it more than most people), but I don't remember my school ever putting on a fashion show, so there wasn't a deeper level of recognition. In contrast, "The Gig & The Girlfriend" was focused on drugs and, even if you've never taken drugs, it's an area most people's school life touched on in some way.

Simon (Joe Thomas) met a new girl at school called Tara (Hannah Tointon), whom he somehow impressed enough to land a date with to a small gig in town. Inevitably, Will (Simon Bird), Neil (Blake Harrison) and Jay (James Buckley) decided to tag along, partly because Simon had told Tara he could get his hands on "puff" and Jay had claimed he could get his hands on weed. A perennial bullshitter, Jay had no such contact (lying he'd been sent to Afghanistan), so resorted to asking school bully Donovan (Henry Lloyd-Hughes) for drugs, only to be given a pouch of harmless tea leaves, which then forced him to approach a dealer at the club itself.

The night out resulted in Jay having uncharacteristic success in scoring drugs for his friends, which made a drooling Neil robot-dance in slow-motion, Tara vomit all over Simon's shoes when she moved in for a kiss, and Will to get quietly freaked out ("time's going very slowly and everything's flat") before publicly requesting an ambulance using the stage's microphone.

This was a much funnier episode than the premiere, because the situation was something you could identify with, and it's just amusing to see these characters deal with drug-taking. If I have a criticism of The Inbetweeners it's that the main characters rarely evolve beyond their basic settings: Will's the sensible one often spoiling everyone's fun; Neil's a trusting human puppy, willing to go with the flow; Simon's the most normal one, whose friends are holding him back; and Jay's the sex-obsessed pathological liar.

There's nothing wrong with having characters stick to their core sources of comedy, but I do sometimes wish they were more three-dimensional, because their reactions to events sometimes don’t ring true. Would someone like Will, tripping on drugs or not, really take to the stage and ask to see his mummy? I understand things are exaggerated for comic effect, but considering how The Inbetweeners is at its best whenever it's dealing with a Peep Show-style level of realism, I wish that sense of plausibility was more consistent. Episodes often turns rather cartoonish towards the end, blunting the sharp edge they have until their climaxes.

Anyway, it's a very wise move to introduce a character like Tara. The female characters on the show have always been thin and dull, but Tara showed real spark and energy. Well, at least during her introduction scene and when sharing a "doobie" with the boys in an alley, before becoming just another gross-out punchline during the vomit-kiss sequence. Still, I have hope Tara will shake-up the foursome's dynamic, and prove to be more interesting than the extremely bland Carli (Emily Head) who Simon's been infatuated with. That never seemed to go anywhere. Tointon seems like a better actress than Head and Emily Atack, given a character who appears to be more interesting, too.

Overall, "The Gig & The Girlfriend" wasn't a classic episode, but it came close in a few instances. I also enjoyed the brief scenes with Jay's dad (David Schaal) humiliating his son ("Jay showing you where he used to shag the cushions?"); and Will's mum (Belinda Stewart-Wilson) buoyantly emasculating her son for being too sensible to get into trouble where drugs are concerned. The adult characters are welcome injections of embarrassment and rather monstrous in their own way, wisely used sparingly.

Aside

• Hannah Tointon is the younger sister of Kara Tointon (most famous for her role as Dawn in EastEnders, currently participating in Strictly Come Dancing). She also starred in Hollyoaks.

WRITERS: Damon Beesley & Iain Morris
DIRECTOR: Ben Palmer
GUEST CAST: Emily Head, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Hannah Tointon, David Schaal & Belinda Stewart-Wilson
TRANSMISSION: 20 September 2010 - E4/HD, 10PM

TV Ratings: 'The Inbetweeners', E4

E4's The Inbetweeners got off to a terrific start on Monday night, with an average of 2.2 million people tuning in for the award-winning comedy (the night's biggest multichannel audience). E4+1 attracted an extra 327,000 viewers.

'THE INBETWEENERS' 3.1 - "The Fashion Show"

Why not head over to Obsessed With Film to read my review of THE INBETWEENERS's third series premiere, that aired last night on E4. Can the teen-comedy capitalize on its BAFTA success before the four leads become too old to play convincing schoolboys?

"Having spent two years somewhat under-the-radar, a recent BAFTA award means significantly more people will tune into The Inbetweeners' third series, as broadcast on E4 every week, rather than gorge on the DVD box-sets. Writers Damon Beesley and Iain Morris may even additional pressure to maintain quality, without turning the show into a caricature of its former self. There were already signs that series 2 lacked the restraint of its first year — so will series 3 find surer footing, or continue a slide?" Continue reading...

September 2010: 'Deadwood', 'The Inbetweeners' & 'True Blood'

A quick heads-up about three notable shows on British TV next month. TCM are showing season 1 of HBO western Deadwood from 6-21 September*, E4's teen-comedy The Inbetweeners begins series 3 from 13 September, and season 2 of True Blood finally arrives on terrestrial Channel 4 on 2 September.

* Deadwood's another unfortunate blindspot of mine, not helped by the fact I'm not really drawn to westerns. It's a show I always hear good things about, so part of me's tempted to jump into these repeats. But it's going to be such a busy month for TV that I doubt I'll find time for it.

The Inbetweeners: Series 1 & 2

Young, glum and full of...

A comedy for the Facebook generation (or has that dated it already?), The Inbetweeners transplants raucous American teen sex comedy to a British locale and injects filthy dialogue as only us Brits can dispense. Ostensibly it's the story of posh schoolboy Will (Simon Bird), who finds himself transferred to a cruddy comprehensive school when his mum's finances dry up. There he befriends other "inbetweeners" (pupils stuck in the middle of the nerd-cool spectrum); amiable Simon (Joe Thomas), compulsive liar Jay (James Buckley), and naïve dimwit Neil (Blake Harrison). The series charts the misadventures of the randy adolescents, mainly through the account of Will, to paint a picture of modern teenage life...

Created by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris (who wrote for the short-lived 11 O'Clock Show on Channel 4), The Inbetweeners is a sitcom designed to appeal foremost to the 16-18 audience it reflects, albeit in a warped funhouse mirror. There are very funny moments and realistic banter laced throughout the scripts, but it's often let down by monotonous plotting and a frustrating tendency to squeeze laughs from situations that have gone way past the realm of plausibility.

The four leads are the main reason the show works; a legitimately engaging quartet of young actors whose friendships feel real and recognizable. In some ways they're all broad clichés, but the term archetype is perhaps more suitable. Simon Bird is often singled-out from the pack (possibly because his character Will resembles a crossbreed of Ricky Gervais and David Mitchell with an injection of Adrian Mole), but he's actually the least convincing as a three-dimensional person -- with the scripts guilty of treating him as a Sitcom Character™ (i.e, he's too blessed with scripted wit and a bizarre lack of self-awareness.) In one series 2 episode, Will strides into a pub wearing lost property trousers carrying his shitty kecks in a plastic bag, and you can't help but wonder why he invites social embarrassment. The only answer is that it's funnier this way. Which is true, but it would be even funnier if we could believe in his faulty decision-making.

It's a shame, too, as the other characters are pitched more successfully, with Simon the sensitive "normal one" in love with childhood friend Carli (Emily Head), Jay the sort of impertinent prat everyone knew in school, and Neil a kind of human puppydog who goes with the flow. It's difficult to see what the series has to offer women, as the school girls are mostly written as cock-teasing fantasies like buxom Charlotte Hinchcliffe (Emily Atack), the kind of dreamgirl who beds our heroes for the sake of the plot. Either that or they never feel consistent in how they behave or react.

Similarly, the adults are all broad caricatures and have bigger personality defects than their kids! Will's mum Polly (Belinda Stewart-Wilson) is a MILF his friends openly lust after, Neil's dad is rumoured to be a repressed homosexual (the source of recurring jokes aimed at his son), Jay's dad constantly undermines his son's self-esteem with confidence-sapping jibes about his sexual history and genitalia, Simon's dad is preposterously frank about marital sex, etc.

The series only really has two teachers worth mentioning, too, which feels like a wasted opportunity: child-hating Mr. Gilbert (teacher-turned-comedian Greg Davies) and confirmed paedophile Mr. Kennedy (Waen Shephard). Yes, you read that right -- in one episode, Gilbert even has to entice Kennedy out of the boy's dorm room during a field trip (clearly aware of his peer's interest in young boys), which is quite a disturbing development.

Obviously, The Inbetweeners is exaggerated and embellished for the sake of ribald comedy, which is fine. But it's still disappointing the scripts aren't written with touch more maturity and evenness, as the characterizations only serve to remind us how artificial and cartoon-y everything is -- even when it's aiming to be poignant and real. Compare this to Peep Show, which is proficient at allowing its characters to act like grotesques without letting its sense of reality slip. The Inbetweeners just goes for the easy, infantile laughs (realism, be damned) and ends up looking unsubstantial and trivial at times. And it doesn't help that every episode follows the same trajectory of the foursome devising a plan to get drunk or have sex, only for it to end in tears or embarrassment through a series of mishaps and bad karma. There's only been 12 episodes, but it's already run the gamut of most school rituals, events and activities each episode seems to randomly pick from a bucket and riff on.

What rescues it are the fun performances of everyone involved, the moments when the plot manages to develops in a clever and credible way, and a constant stream of edgy dialogue, toilet humour, and beautifully inane banter that feels authentic. The show understand that British teenage boys communicate through jokey repartee and lies, which is so refreshing after the usual "bromantic" US teen-sex comedies with their stagnant formula of jocks, nerds, cheerleaders, prom nights, and toga parties.

Overall, too many episodes of The Inbetweeners fall flat at the last hurdle to be considered truly successful, but at least none of the adventures are totally boring. The dialogue revels in its ugliness and the main characters are engaging and sympathetic. Now, if they could only just deepen the plots, flesh out the girls, and paint the adults with a bit more sincerity...


written by: Damon Beesley and Iain Morris directed by: Gordon Anderson (series 1) & Ben Palmer (series 2) starring: Simon Bird (Will McKenzie), James Buckley (Jay Cartwright), Blake Harrison (Neil Sutherland), Joe Thomas (Simon Cooper), Greg Davies (Mr. Gilbert), Henry Lloyd-Hughes (Mark Donovan), Belinda Stewart-Wilson (Polly McKenzie), Emily Head (Carl D'Amato), Robin Weaver (Pamela Cooper), Martin Trenaman (Mr. Cooper), John Seaward (John), Emily Atack (Charlotte Hinchcliffe), Alex MacQueen (Kevin Sutherland), Dominic Applewhite (Andrew Cooper), Richard Hart (David Glover), David Schaal (Terry Cartwright), Ollie Holme (Tom), Justine Cain (Carli's Friend), Lily Lovett (Rachel), Anabel Barnston (Susie), Victoria Willing (Mrs. Cartwright), Suzi Battersby (Punk Girl) & Libby Hayter (Pupil) 260-minutes (x12 25-min. episodes)

The Inbetweeners comes to BBC America

BAFTA-nominated E4/Channel 4 comedy The Inbetweeners has been acquired by BBC America for broadcast later this year. The series follows the exploits of four sixth form friends who are caught inbetween the social strata of geekyness and popularity. The series is written by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris (who worked on The 11 O'Clock Show), and is certainly worth checking out if you like the idea of a silly, adolescent Skins-esque sitcom.

I recently caught up with series 1 on DVD (after seeing episode 1 when it aired, but falling behind¹), and found it quite enjoyable. I didn't find it hilarious, but some elements certainly struck a chord with me. It was just a shame a lot of the punchlines relied on comic incidents and reactions that just didn't ring true (like one character jumping on someone's car roof to make a point, or the gang evacuating a car because the seats are sticky with semen.) But, while it didn't reach any great comedy heights, the performances were agreeable and the characters likeable. I also found it amusing that the parents were arguably even more immature than their kids, and twice as horrifying. And maybe series 2 has improved things; I'll have to catch-up with the Channel 4 repeats later this year.


1. I can't be alone in rarely tuning into E4 for original homegrown comedy, can I? It's too far down the EPG and isn't it all Smallville repeats?

TV Week 24: Most Haunted, Cookalong Live, The Inbetweeners & Top Gear

My twenty-fourth column at Newslite.tv is a bumper edition, with quickie reviews for Most Haunted's tenth series, Channel 4's Gordon Ramsay's Cookalong Live, the terrestrial airing of E4 teen-comedy The Inbetweeners and the return of Top Gear on Sunday nights. Enjoy! And please comment, if you can. It's nice to hear your thoughts.